Guide Weekly Update #27: September 29 to October 5, 2019 Brought to you by Ashley Lambert-Maberly (ashley..m@ube.ca), award-winning © Sunday walking guide. 27-29 September 2019 Fri-Sun: Artists for Conservation Festival 10:00 to 5:00pm: Conservation-themed art exhibits with programming throughout the garden. Free admission for VBGA members. Enjoy a host of art and nature-focused activities for all ages ~ art demos, live music, woodcarving, crafts, First Nations performances, live birds of prey and more. The 2019 Artists for Conservation Festival is a multi-day, nature-themed arts and culture event for all ages. The event highlights the natural and cultural heritage of the Lower Mainland through art exhibits, workshops, musical and cultural performances, First Nations presentations and more. updated and are posted at Erica’s > Between the Perennial and Rose Gardens are several pines, including the Japanese White Pine (Pinus parviflora f glauca). Its pine-cone-opening season, and for guests who have only ever noticed the grey-brown “after” cones, showing them in action is exciting. This particular species is a popular bonsai tree, and is native to Japan as its name would suggest. P Nearby is another Japanese tree, the Japanese Spindle Tree (Euonymus japonicus ‘Aureomarginatus’)—some Euonymus species were used for spindle making, hence the common name. The species can be found in coastal woodlands in southern Japan where they call it masaki. The Giant Rhubarb (Gunnera manicata) sports an unusual feature at the base of its leaf stalks, a type of bract known as a bud scale—en masse, it resembles pink endive. Lurking inside? Colonies of that helpful nitrogen-providing ‘cyanobacteria Nostoc punctforme. P Across from this particular specimen (in the Australian/NZ Garden) is an ‘Ochre Whipcord Hebe (Veronica ochracea James Stirling’). These New Zealand natives were originally called Veronicas, were renamed Hebes in the 1920s, then recently reverted back. Veronicas are named for St.Veronica, ‘whose claim to fame was that she lent Jesus a facecloth, and his face miraculously imprinted on it. St. Peter's claims to have the cloth (known as the Veil of Veronica), but so do many other institutions. You can normally DOWNLOAD all my photos from Google. Go to https://tinyurl.com/vandusenphotos Ene ae